Headlines

• Houston Ranked Third Among U.S. Cities with Most Apartments To Be Delivered in 2017 [RentCafe]
• Houston Friendly Environment to New Apartment Projects, Finds Report [Realty News Report]
• Realtor.com Names Kingwood Among the Most Affordable Houston Markets with the Best Elementary Schools [Houston Chronicle]
• Founder of Homebuilder RG Homes Accused of Faking Inspection Report for Home Under Construction in Bellaire [Houston Chronicle]
• Metro Giving Light Rail Trains Red and Blue Stripes So They’re More Visible [Houston Public Media]
• Seawall Speed Limit To Drop to 35 MPH [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• Improving Houston Pedestrian and Bike Safety Needs To Go Beyond Education Campaigns [Houston Chronicle ($)]

Photo of North Blvd.: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• 22-Acre Business Park Planned Near Old Town Spring [Houston Chronicle]
• City Acquiring 1.5 Acres in Southwest Houston for Brays Bayou Greenway Trailhead [Houston Chronicle]
• InterContinental Houston Medical Center Hotel Tower Tops Out [HBJ; previously on Swamplot]
• Stuccovered Howard Barnstone-Designed River Oaks Mansion on the Market for $19.5M [Culturemap]
• Opening of Menil Drawing Institute Delayed to Unspecified Date [ARTnews]
• Rooms To Go Headed to The Reserve at Shadow Creek Ranch in Pearland [Bisnow]
• Lee’s Creamery Opening Standalone Shop in the Heights [Eater Houston]
• California Bakery Chain SusieCakes Opening First Houston Location in Rice Village [Houston Chronicle]
• Texas City Reservoir Undergoing Major Renovation for the the First Time Since Built in 1948 [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• 9 Flood-Damaged Meyerland Homes Near Brays Bayou To Get Elevated with FEMA Money [KHOU]
• City of Katy Approves Measure To Paint Murals on Water Tanks [Katy Times ($)]
• Katy Getting Its Own Buc-ee’s Next Month, with 100 Gas Pumps and ‘World’s Longest’ Car Wash [Covering Katy]

Photo of Bellaire rooftops: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Caydon Development Group Files Plans for 26-Story Residential Tower on Midtown’s Main Street [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
• Houston’s 8 Trophy Office Buildings Capture Lion’s Share of Leasing Activity, Finds JLL [Bisnow]
• 225-Lot Subdivision Planned for 15 Vacant Acres in the Fifth Ward [Houston Chronicle]
• 14 Builders Sign On for New Bridgeland Neighborhood Dubbed Parkland Village [Realty News Report]
• Parra Design Group: Fifth Ward Going To Be the ‘Next Heights’ [Houston Chronicle]
• The Houston Neighborhoods with the Highest, Lowest Apartment Occupancy Rates [HBJ ($)]
• Glenbrook Valley ‘Time Capsule’ Home Built in 1955 To Hit the Market [Houston Chronicle]
• California Pizza Chain MidiCi Opening Its Upper Kirby Location Aug. 18 [Houston Chronicle]
• Taproom from Houston’s First Cidery Slated To Open Downtown in Spring 2018 [Houstonia]
• The Rustic To Break Ground Near The Toyota Center Next Month [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
• Vote This Week Could Lower Seawall Speed Limit By 5 MPH [abc13]

Photo of the Fulbright Tower: Jan Buchholtz via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Pre-Leasing Underway for Proposed Medical Office Building Near The Woodlands [Houston Chronicle]
• JLL: Leasing Activity Improves at Downtown Office Buildings [HBJ ($)]
• Dallas-Based Dunhill Partners Acquires Center at Pearland Parkway I Retail Center [Houston Chronicle]
• One-Third of Houston-Area Hotels Unable To Pay Back Their Commercial Mortgage Loans [Houston Public Media]
• Houston Economy Added 56,100 New Jobs Over the Last Year [Realty News Report]
• Urban Densification Possibly a Short-Lived Trend or a Myth, Says CBRE Research [Realty News Report]
• South Bank Seafood Bar Replaces Refinery Burgers and Whiskey on Dallas [HBJ]
• Dallas Restaurant Chain Eatzi’s Scouting Locations for Its Return to Houston [PaperCity Magazine]
• University of Houston Downtown Alligator Mural To Be Demolished for More Parking [Houston Chronicle]
• 15 Quintessential Houston Murals for Your Instagram [Culturemap]
• More Med Center Employees Live in Pearland ZIP Code 77584 Than Anywhere Else in Houston [Bisnow]

Photo of Brays Bayou: Jan Buchholtz via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Howard Hughes Corp. About To Unveil Next Phase of Master-Planned Community Bridgeland [HBJ ($)]
• Where Rents Rose the Most Over the Past Year in Houston, According to Axiometrics [Houston Chronicle]
• Stone Meadow Homes Looks To Revive Savannah Plantation [HBJ ($)]
• Cy-Fair Predicted To Add More Than 23K New Single-Family Homes in the Next Decade [Community Impact]
• Office Building Preservation Company Launches in Houston [HBJ ($)]
• Podcast: What’s in Store for Montrose’s Lars Bang Building Property at 616 Hawthorne [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• Heights Outpost of Bernie’s Burger Bus Opening July 31 at 2200 Yale [Culturemap; previously on Swamplot]
• Houston Holocaust Museum Closing, Moving to Temporary Location at 9220 Kirby Dr. As It Prepares for Expansion [Click2Houston]
• TxDOT Doing ‘A Lot of Listening’ with I-45 Widening Project [Houston Chronicle ($); previously on Swamplot]

Photo of the Memorial Hermann Medical Plaza, Texas Medical Center: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Median Houston Home Value Up 3.9% Year-Over-Year in June to $178,400, Finds Zillow [Houston Chronicle]
• Houston Apartment Demand Outstripped Supply of New Units in First Half of 2017, Finds Berkadia [Houston Chronicle]
• 2 Sugar Land Office Buildings Hit the Market [Houston Chronicle]
• Developer Trendmaker Homes Slows Down on Spec Homes as Oil Prices Fluctuate [HBJ ($)]
• The Development Challenges Facing Unincorporated Cy-Fair [Community Impact Newspaper]
• Toasted Yolk Cafe Opens Third Houston Location in Grand Parkway Marketplace [Community Impact Newspaper]
• El Tiempo Cantina Replacing Former Laurenzo’s in Webster This Year [Eater Houston]
• City Delays Draft of New Heights Historic District Design Guidelines [The Leader; previously on Swamplot]
• Toll Suggested for Pelican Island Bridge [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• Gov. Abbott, Galveston Island Tree Conservancy Clash Over City Tree Ordinances [Houston Public Media; previously on Swamplot]

Photo of Spring Branch: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Houston Ranks Third in the Nation in Apartment Construction, Behind New York and Dallas, Finds Yardi Matrix [Realty News Report]
• Midway Breaks Ground on H-E-B Phase of Buffalo Heights in Washington Ave. Corridor [CoStar Group; previously on Swamplot]
• The Houston Neighborhoods with the Strongest Rent Gains in June [HBJ ($)]
• Independence Art Studios in the Heights Adding 4 More Studios, In-Ground Swimming Pool Made Out of a Shipping Container [The Leader; previously on Swamplot]
• Long Sing Supermarket in Houston’s Old Chinatown Closing in 2 Weeks [Culturemap; previously on Swamplot]
• Conveyor Belt Sushi Spot Sushigami Opening in the Galleria This Week [Eater Houston]
• In Search of the Artist of That Richmond Mannequin House [The Great Pan Is Dead; previously on Swamplot]
• New U.S. Geological Survey App Shows 40 Years of Data on Houston Subsidence [Houston Chronicle]

Photo: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Where Apartment Demand is Strongest in Houston [HBJ ($)]
• Trendmaker Homes Starts Construction on Second Phase of Clear Lake Community [HBJ ($)]
• Historic River Oaks Home Where George R. Brown Once Lived on the Market for $10M [Houston Chronicle]
• Texas City Water Pump Station Getting $18M Makeover [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• Hopdoddy Opening Fourth Houston Location at the Heights Waterworks Development [Culturemap; previously on Swamplot]
• Vietnamese Restaurant Lúa Viet Kitchen Opening in Alabama Row Development in Montrose [HBJ; previously on Swamplot]
• Mattress Mack Expresses Interest in Buying Houston Rockets [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
• Landry’s Owner Tilman Fertitta Also Interested in Buying the Houston Rockets [Eater Houston]
• Why Residents Are Searching for a Camel Named Humphrey on Bolivar Peninsula [Click2Houston]
• Rabid Bat Bites Woman in Parking Garage Near Buffalo Bayou Park [Fox26; previously on Swamplot]

Photo of Meyerland: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• 4,000 Acres for Sale Near Future Grand Parkway Segment [HBJ ($)]
• Houston Has the Worst Office Absorption in the Country, Finds Cushman & Wakefield [Realty News Report; previously on Swamplot]
• Hines Selling 21 Eleven Apartment Project on Cafe Adobe Site [Realty News Report]
• How Far the Average Houston Home Price of $305,000 Can Get You Around the City [KHOU]
• Montrose the Priciest Area for Renters in Houston, According to RentCafe [Culturemap]
• Slideshow: Creative Ways Houston Buildings Have Been Redeveloped into Retail Centers [Houston Chronicle]
• Dog-Friendly Offices, Artist Studios in the Works for Republic Square [Houston Chronicle]
• A Few New Tenants for CityCentre [Houston Chronicle]
• Houston’s First Lululemon Athletica and Toms Outlets Coming to Houston Premium Outlets in Cypress [HBJ]
• Looks Like Restaurateur Ford Fry’s Planning a Tex-Mex Restaurant in the Heights [Eater Houston]
• Galveston Hotel Revenues for June, July Set To Surpass Same Period Last Summer [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• Chapter 11 Bankruptcies on the Rise Around Houston [HBJ ($)]
• How Texas Allows Industrial Facilities To Release Unauthorized Air Pollution with Few Consequences [The Texas Tribune; previously on Swamplot]

Photo of O’Quinn Tower: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Vacant Del Papa Distributing Co. Complex in Galveston Has New Owner [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• Gaia Real Estate Sells Houston Apartment Complexes in Humble [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• Most of the $53M in Housing Bonds Have Not Been Issued or Spent in Houston [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• Apartment List: Poverty on the Rise in Houston Suburbs [HBJ ($)]
• What Happened After Taking the Houston Bus for a Week [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• After Greenspoint Flood, What’s Next for Vulnerable Residents? [The Urban Edge; previously on Swamplot]
• Google Maps Timelapse Shows Houston Neighborhood Growth Over the Past 30 Years [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
• Interactive Policy Tool Connects Equity Issues Such as Affordable Housing to Policy Reforms [The Urban Edge]
• Giant Sinkhole 20 Miles North of Tampa Swallows 2 Houses [Fox8; previously on Swamplot]

Photo of NRG Stadium: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Houston On Track To Add 2.7M SF of Retail Space This Year, Down from 3.4M Last Year [Houston Chronicle]
• Inside BHP’s New High-Tech Houston HQ at 1500 Post Oak Blvd. [Houston Chronicle]
• Galleria VI Wing Now Open for Shopping with 35 High-End Retailers [Houston Chronicle]
• Humble ISD Purchases Office Complex for Welcome Center [Houston Chronicle]
• How Much You Need To Make To Rent an Apartment in Houston, According to SmartAsset [HBJ ($)]
• Fast-Casual Pizza Place MidiCi Opening Second Houston-Area Restaurant in Upper Kirby Next Month [Culturemap]
• MOD Pizza Signs Leases for 6 More Restaurant Spaces in Houston, Bringing Its Total to 23 [Realty News Report]
• The Long Rise and Fast Fall of Houston’s Ambitious One-Bin Recycling Program [Houston Press]
• Montgomery County, Conroe Looking at Ways To Improve Flood Warning Systems [Houston Public Media]
• All the Problems with Hunting Hogs from Hot Air Balloons [Houston Press]
• Flippers, Investors, Developers, and Builders Bought Nearly 40% of Dallas Homes Last Year [Dallas News; previously on Swamplot]
• Baltimore the Latest City Facing ‘Bikelash’ as Residents Pushed To Demolish Existing Bike Path [CityLab]
• Eastbound I-10 Closed This Weekend for Repairs to Overpass at Gellhorn [Houston Chronicle]

Photo: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Houston Home Sales, Prices Hit All-Time High in June, Finds Latest HAR Report [HBJ]
• Houston Office Occupancy Dips to Lowest Point Since 1999, Finds NAI [Realty News Report]
• Construction To Start on Grand Texas Theme Park Water Park in August [Houston Chronicle]
• Developer behind Museum District medical office building renovation has more planned for Houston [HBJ ($)]
• Gymboree Closing Rice Village, River Oaks Shopping Center, Pearland Stores Amid Bankruptcy [Houston Chronicle]
• Galveston To Fix Incomplete Sidewalks, Make Other Improvements to Walking Paths Near Schools [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• Why the Pool at Downtown’s Market Square Tower Hasn’t Had Any Water This Week [Houston Chronicle]

Photo of Post Oak Blvd.: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Museum Medical Tower Undergoing $10M Renovation To Frenchify Facade, Update Lobbies and Parking Garage [Realty News Report]
• Study: Environmentally Friendly Homes in Texas Can Sell for $25K More Than Their Conventional Counterparts [Houston Chronicle]
• Mill Creek Residential Sells Its Modera Spring Town Center Apartment Complex off Spring Steubner Near Kuykendahl [HBJ ($)]
• Johnson Development Corp. Sees Double-Digit Increase in Home Sales [HBJ ($)]
• Rice Village Ramen Shop Nao Ramen Has Closed [Culturemap]
• Kids’ Clothing Retailer Gymboree Closing More Than 350 Gymboree and Crazy 8 Stores [Houston Chronicle]
• More People Buying Homes Site Unseen, Finds Redfin [abc13]
• Slideshow: A Guide to Greater Houston’s Really Small Towns [Houston Chronicle]
• More than 200 People Camped Outside Galleria Since Sunday Waiting for Unannounced Louis Vuitton x Supreme Popup Store That May Never Open [KHOU; more info here and here]
• A 2,500-Year History of Stadiums in 10 Drawings [National Geographic via Houston Chronicle]

Photo of the Astrodome: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Small Land Sales in Houston on the Rise, Finds Texas Association of Realtors [HBJ ($)]
• Transwestern Commercial Services, Stream Realty Partners, CBRE Have the Most Certified Property Managers in Houston [Houston Chronicle]
• Downtown’s Hess Tower Receives Outstanding Building of the Year Award [Realty News Report]
• Aldi To Invest More Than $33M in Remodeling 24 Houston Stores [HBJ]
• New Owners Baker Katz Planning New Signage and Landscaping for Strip Shopping Center at Fairmont Parkway and Beltway 8 in Pasadena [Houston Chronicle]
• Original Beaver’s Off Washington Corridor Has Closed, Will Reopen in the Fall ‘Rejuvenated’ [Houston Chronicle]
• Why the 100-Year Floodplain Needs To Be Rethought [The Urban Edge]
• BCycle’s Most Popular Location Is Near Buffalo Bayou’s Sabine Bridge [Click2Houston]

Photo: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• 14-Story Office Building at 1700 West Loop Sold for $52M [Houston Chronicle]
• Houston Named Among Top 5 U.S. Cities with the Most Green Office Space [Houston Chronicle]
• List of 50 Top-Selling Master-Planned Communities Nationwide This Year Includes 10 in Houston [HBJ]
• River Oaks House Originally Built for a Saudi Prince Hits the Market [HBJ]
• How Much Houstonians Can Save By Renewing Their Lease Instead of Moving, According to Zillow [HBJ ($)]
• City Officials Host ‘Resource Fair’ on Public Safety at Haverstock Hills Apartment Complex [abc13]
• Galveston’s Lone Star Flight Museum Closing July 15 Ahead of Move to Ellington Airport [Galveston County Daily News ($); previously on Swamplot]
• Human Skeletal Remains Found in Vacant Riverside Terrace Home Believed To Belong to Squatter [abc13]
• Houston-Based Clean Line Energy Partners Wants to Spread Wind Power Across the U.S. [Texas Monthly]
• The Misguided Madness of Neighborhood Rebranding [New York Times]

Photo of Wisdom (formerly Lee) High School demo: BOldbury via Swamplot Flickr Pool